« Harry Potter and the Obtuse Atheist | Main | Exit Rove »

Brownbuckabee

13 Aug 2007 08:52 am

Unlike Noam, I think it's relatively easy "to overstate the significance of Huckabee's performance" at Ames, for reasons suggested by Noam's very next sentence: "Combined, Huckabee and Brownback - the field's two leading social conservatives - outpolled Mitt Romney today 33 to 31.5." Combined. Yes, maybe Brownback will drop out soon, but there aren't all that many opportunities for a socially-conservative dark horse to raise his profile dramatically, and while "Huckabee comes in second to Romney at Iowa Straw Poll (and might have beaten him without Brownback in the race)" sounds nice and all, it just doesn't have the same ring as "In stunning upset, Huckabee wins Iowa Straw Poll." And it probably won't have the same candidacy-boosting consequences, particularly for a guy who isn't exactly swimming in the resources you need to capitalize on political opportunities.

:: Comments (6) ::

Share This

Comments (6)

Agreed.

Posted by Freddie | August 13, 2007 9:10 AM

I dunno, Ross, I think this might be the beginning of some real traction for Huckabee.

He's likable and engaging, with a more convincing track record to GOP voters than Romney or Giuliani. It's not like the GOP primary voters are in love with any of the front-runners at this point.

Posted by Elvis Elvisberg | August 13, 2007 9:56 AM

I really think Huckabee's second place finish is significant. Of the so-called second tier of Republican candidates, Huck has been the most eloquent and most sensible. Voters are starting to take more than a passing look at him.

If he does not come close to the Big Three, because of name recognition and lack of money, he should be a leading candidate to be the running mate of whoever will be elected to be the GOP nominee.

He looks and sounds, at least to me, a much better candidate than the first man from Hope who still stirs a lot of controversies among us because of his personal pedaddilloes.

Posted by RGL | August 13, 2007 10:35 AM

Huckabee is orders of magnitude more impressive than Brownback.

Sadly, I'm not sure that helps him with that crowd.

Posted by keatssycamore | August 13, 2007 11:28 AM

For whatever reason, the main requirement of GOP primary voters seems to be hyper-partisanship in this election cycle. Guiliani and Romney's constant saber rattling and aggressive attacks on liberals appear to trump virtually every competing issue. I don't see how a candidate like Huckabee can break through in such an environment.

Posted by owenz | August 13, 2007 12:45 PM

The GOP has a serious funding issue and a disappearing base. The most important fact about Ames was the pathetic turnout. The GOP is going to take a massive beating in 2008 and I for one am looking forward to watching it.

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | August 13, 2007 1:53 PM